ASTI member teachers in the north west hope to be back in the classroom for good following today’s industrial dispute action.
22 schools in the north west are closed today due to the ongoing ASTI dispute with the department of education over equal pay for new teachers.
The ASTI has 751 member teachers in those schools.
In Sligo, there are nine such schools with 281 members Donegal has seven schools closed with 347 ASTI members and six schools in Leitrim have 123 members.
At least six more strike days are in the pipeline, and it’s also unclear whether hundreds of schools will be able to re-open after next week’s mid-term break, because of problems with supervision and substitution.
James Hardiman is the deputy principal at St. Mary’s College in Ballisodare and he hopes to be back in his classroom on November 7th.
These teachers on the picket line at St. Attracta’s Community School in Tubbercurry believe a return to the classroom following next week’s mid-term break depends on the department of education.
Speaking at an event in Sligo today the minister for agriculture Michael Creed expressed his disappointment that the ASTI have taken to strike action.
He told Ocean FM there is a process within Landsdowne road to address pay issues.
